November 06, 2010

Katrina Revisited: Still (12/9/05)

[Original post: December 9, 2005]

We're back in New Orleans, living among the rubble and trailers, driving along streets still lined with junk and debris, passing military vehicles, or trucks laden with ladders and wood. It's a (re)construction zone in which many things are still not working (including numerous stop lights and street lights). The street car track is still a dumping ground, decorated with handmade signs announcing businesses that have opened or moved, or advertising mold removal/building services/electrical inspection.

The first few days back were quite depressing, because we had no electricity, gas or phone service in our place. We've been camping out in the spare room at a friend's house, but after more than three months of relying on the tremendous hospitality and patience of other people, we're eager to get home - like everyone else, pretty much. (And at least we live somewhere that's still standing.) The mood in the city ranges from optimistic to defiant to disbelieving to angry to despairing. People with somewhere to work and somewhere to live, even if those places are new to them or temporary, are trying their best to get back to normal, though it's not clear here what normal is anymore.

There are numerous ironies and irritations to keep us busy: receiving a disconnection notice from MCI, for example, because we haven't paid our bill since the hurricane. We've had no phone service since then, either, but a call to MCI (from somone else's phone) to remind them of this fact was necessary, complete with more than half an hour on hold. We now have a firm commitment - wait for it - that we'll have phone service again by February 28, 2006, at 8 PM. This is good news, because I was hoping to make a call at 9 PM that evening. Thanks, Bell South! Thanks for your stellar customer service, MCI!*

Entergy had also sent us a bill for estimated gas and electricity usage over the last three months. You'd think that this estimate might read ZERO, considering we've had no gas or electricity in this time. But no - it's about $60. It's amazing how much energy you can use when nothing is connected and your neighborhood is in total darkness. So, of course, this meant more time on someone else's phone, calling Entergy to ask them to stop sending bills and start sending trucks. The good news: our gas was turned on this Wednesday, after I agreed to get to the house at 7 am and wait, in the cold and gloom, for someone to show up. He did, at 9 AM (bless him). I've never been so happy to see the burners on the stove light up. And, after more hectoring phone calls and the very welcome intervention of the Entergy gas worker ("Y'all haven't had power since the storm? All they need to do is flick that switch up there"), our electricity returned on Thursday.

Now our house is a little beacon of light in a trashed, still-empty neighborhood. We're moving back today, and hopefully will get a new fridge tomorrow. During the day, workers tear out the insides of houses nearby; at night, the only lights shine from a couple of FEMA trailers parked outside houses and from our little porch. The two schools by us - McMain and Ursuline - are supposed to open in the new year, but until then the only sounds are hammers, drills, and the crash of wood landing on piles in the street. Cartier, our mailman, visits every day. He lost his house, but is rebuilding - he'll be able to move back in the summer. He evacuated to Alabama and then Houston, and right now he's staying with his sister in Algiers.

There's bad news from Tulane. Of course, the local media is fixated on cuts in sports programs rather than the more drastic academic and administrative changes. I still have a job, it seems, and those of us still employed will be allowed back into our offices soon. Somewhere to use the phone, at least.

My six weeks in New Zealand seem very dream-like right now. Just before I left, Hibiscus Coast was optioned by a film company. Or was it? I'm not sure of anything anymore.

*Our gas went off again on Christmas Eve, which meant we couldn't wash or cook. We did not get phone service back until April 2006.